Case study on Classification...

The rating 12 didn't come about till around the year 2000 as when it was being considered by the BBFC it was in response to people's complaints who felt that they would be better placed to decide what their kids could watch. This issue came along frequently, especially when a new James Bond film out.

In 2001, a survey showed that the public was only in favour of the 12 rating if under 12's were accompanied by an adult throughout the film. A year later, another survey was conducted and the results were identical, the only difference was that the survey asked about introducing a 12A rating.

In 2002, Spiderman was released under a 12 rating. The distributor did request it to be a PG but was given a 12 due to  a level of personal violence and and a revenge theme that went beyond the boundaries of the PG guidelines. This created a great disappointment by under 12's as they have been the ones that had been targeted with Spiderman merchandise and toys and the BBFC received many letters from children that were bitterly disappointed.

After the introduction of 12A, Sony Pictures decided to re-release the film so all the young fans that missed out first time round could capitalise on the classification of 12A. The BBFC announced that the decision to classify sit as 12A had nothing to do with pressure, but the realisation of children growing up and maturing along with parents being in a better decision to decide what their children should watch. Altogether, Spiderman grossed over $820 million and can be suggested that the re-release helped with this total gross figure. Many people gained the misconception that Spiderman was the first 12A film due to the uproar on the matter, but The Bourne Identity proved to be the first 12A rated film in Britain.

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Classification of my film

To add professionality to my production work I decided to add a rating to my film to maintain my objective of making my work as efficient and to the best of my ability. I also decided to base my rating on the BBFC guidelines and take into account everything they would such as legalities. My film is a psychological thriller/horror and I have to be careful to not include too much gore in my idea and trailer so it does not limit my age range and so I do not have to change my marketing approach. After careful considerations, weighing up everything about my idea and research into the rating of other psychological thrillers, I decided to give my film an age rating of 15. This will allow my to effectively market my campaign around my original target audience. Additionally, I chose a 15 rating as it focuses more on psychological themes as opposed to blood and gore. After deciding on a rating I surveyed my idea and poster and asked what rating they thought it should, this was my response instead of sending it to the BBFC to rate because its not an official film and everybody said it should be a 15. I accomplished my objective of succeeding in the rating that I wanted.